It was in the autumn of 1987 that a handful of rock musicians of Bangladesh sat down urgently to discuss a simple idea. The background to the meeting was the resounding success of the first ever 'joint concert' by a dozen bands in the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel a few months earlier. This was an effort to raise funds for victims of the devastating floods of 1987. Termed as 'FLOOD Aid Committee of Bangladesh' we had 'lady luck' on our side in the vibrant persona of London based student Rebecca Hossain in town on a vacation, and who took charge of pulling off the three day event.
What proved crucial was to break the jinx. Until that point in 1987 - bands in Bangladesh held only solo concerts and they were limited to indoor locations and audience turnouts were merely a thousand at best. There were no 'opening acts' nor did the bands ever think about joint concerts. Rebecca was the firm glue that made the idea stick, notwithstanding that she also had to handle the 'larger than life' ego of many of the established bands back then!
Post FLOODAID the floodgates of camaraderie among bands opened, trust grew and the immense possibility of growth of rock music if done in the spirit of cooperation was an opportunity no one had any doubts, was the 'only' viable way forward. In its nascent years rock music in all honesty was a phenomenon 'on the fringe', limited to just a few bands occasionally performing live concerts in Clubs, College and University circuits and a professional career in music was unthinkable.
The evolving cassette industry had just about started showing interest in us, while the media and the establishment per se treated us like pariahs. There were hardly any opportunities available for our talents to be showcased in the state owned BTV. More damaging, we had been ruefully branded 'oposhangskriti' or cultural renegades by a host of cultural vigilantes and we realized the hard way that we couldn't fight this out individually.
And thus it had to be the original brainwave of Faisal Siddiqui Bogey of Renaissance to come up with the idea of an association - with a musical ring to it, that stuck. BAMBA we called ourselves the acronym being 'Bangladesh Musical Bands Association' and soon enough we had formed an adhoc committee with Bogey named Convener. For reasons still unclear to this day, everybody by a voice vote suggested my name as founder President which I most reluctantly agreed to. Given my tedious and time constraining job as an Airliner I passed on the torch in 1992 to Hamin Ahmed of MILES who continued until 1996 then handed it over to Bogey who successfully ran the organization until 2005. Hamin was once again re-elected President of BAMBA in the winter of 2005 and continues in the post as of date.
From those humble beginnings BAMBA grew by leaps and bounds and the simple vision that the earliest members foresaw, had in retrospect brought about an unexpected revolution in music right across the length and breadth of Bangladesh. In thirty one years BAMBA has evolved to become an organization that works on very high corporate standards and efficiency. When it comes to concerts, BAMBA members efforts are just not limited to performances but the hands on hard work of event engineering and management, to assembling the best in state of the art sound, stage gears and lightings as well as negotiating with sponsors, televisions, FM radios and online partners.
There is a popular misconception that BAMBA is all about Concerts and a 'good time' which is hardly the case. In terms of its responsibility to a younger generation it has contributed in way of fund raisers for flood and other natural disasters, treatment of cancer patients and importantly to raise awareness on complex social and environmental issues such as eve teasing, violence against women, Save the Sunderbans etc. It is currently working on several health issues confronting Bangladesh. BAMBA has also risen on occasions to financially assist ailing artists and performers in need of treatment.
It is therefore not unsurprising that when it comes to promoting their products to a new generation multinational giants such as Pepsico, Coke and Akij beverages and all the big names in Telco's from Grameeenphone, Robi, Banglalink, as well as Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and as much as the UNFPA etc have time and again relied on the talents of BAMBA to take their messages forward.
Behind the scene, BAMBA has made its forceful presence felt in the fight to uphold copyright laws, ban piracy of contents and ensuring fairness in digital distribution. It now has a seat in any meeting on the above issues called by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Copyright Board, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and is an important mover and shaker of the first ever CMO BLCPS 'Bangladesh Lyricist Composers and Performers Society' approved by the Government of Bangladesh in 2015.
The cumulative brand value of BAMBA with 26 active bands is estimated at around Taka 100 crores when we calculate the off takes in actual earnings and projections of all the stake holders directly or indirectly associated just not with BAMBA, but the rock music industry in its entirety. And what is a matter of great pride and glory for Bangladesh is nowhere in South Asia is there another unique organization like BAMBA that works exclusively and collectively to promote, protect and preempt the interest of rock music.
And once again beginning Eid day BAMBA is all set to storm the nations imagination by showcasing its talents in the 'Legends of Rock'. Sponsored by Banglalink it will be aired on Deshtv. 'Team BAMBA' comprising of 24 participating bands worked 9 straight days and nights recording a whopping 168 songs, which surely is a milestone in Bangladesh's musical history!
And now for the larger picture: if all remains peaceful in the political arena, the march of BAMBA will see live open air concerts in stadium venues in major districts and subdivision towns of Bangladesh in winter of 2018-2019.
Stay tuned..... for the next big vision of BAMBA is to 'go global'!
Maqsoodul Haque (Mac) is a columnist and jazz-rock fusion musician. He was the founder President of BAMBA and now a member of its Executive Committee.